Floor SpeechBipartisan2024-12-19

EXPANDING PUBLIC LANDS OUTDOOR RECREATION EXPERIENCES ACT

TaxesEnvironmentForeign PolicyTradeCrime & JusticeTechnologyInfrastructure

Context

On 2024-12-19, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) delivered a floor speech titled "EXPANDING PUBLIC LANDS OUTDOOR RECREATION EXPERIENCES ACT" in the Senate. The speech addressed taxes and also covered the environment, foreign policy. It referenced legislation including HR6492, S7205, S7214, among other bills.

Full Text

EXPANDING PUBLIC LANDS OUTDOOR RECREATION EXPERIENCES ACT

Congressional Record, Volume 170 Issue 189 (Thursday, December 19, 2024) [Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 189 (Thursday, December 19, 2024)] [Senate] [Pages S7205-S7214] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] EXPANDING PUBLIC LANDS OUTDOOR RECREATION EXPERIENCES ACT Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, in a moment, I am going to be asking for unanimous consent to pass the EXPLORE Act, a package of outdoor recreation legislation. Let me just say this to you. This is something that we all agree on, both sides of this wonderful institution of Congress, because the House and the Senate are in agreement, there were changes that need to be made. We all agreed to get that done, but the bill we have before us is the House's version without--without--the changes that we have agreed to. And the reason for that, the House has already passed theirs. And I understand my dear friend is going to be speaking on this, too, in the objection part of it. But I just would like for everyone to understand we have a chance, truly a chance. And I have, as chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee--we have made a focus of supporting our public lands and the outdoor recreation economy, which is the fastest growing element of our economy in every State. We all have beautiful venues in our States. We have all been able to take advantage of that, starting with the John Dingell Act and working all the way up to the Outdoor Recreation Act, and now the EXPLORE Act. It gives a chance for the vendors in those parks to be able to offer a true experience, and that is really what it is all about. I have no objections around all 50 States. One of the first things we did was pass, as I said, the Dingell Act. We did the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Just a year later, we passed the Great American Outdoors Act, which permanently funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund and provided nearly $2 billion per year for 5 years to address the deferred maintenance backlog on our Federal recreational lands--most of our parks, our wonderful, beautiful parks. The same year we passed the Great American Outdoors Act, Senator Capito and I passed legislation designating New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in our home State, which, on the east coast, is now one of the most visited parks that we have. It is close to most of the population in the country. Since the designation 4 years ago, visitation has jumped more than 40 percent. People want to get out and enjoy this beautiful country that we all own. A year later, in 2021, Senator Barrasso and I introduced the America's Outdoor Recreation Act, which is the basis of the EXPLORE Act. It basically gives you the ability now to really do it. We reported that bill out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a bipartisan basis. We tried very hard to pass that bill by the end of 2022, but ultimately we had some disagreements with the House. However, Senator Barrasso and I were not ready to give up. We reintroduced the bill and were again able to report it out with a bipartisan voice vote. Congressman Westerman, who is with us today in the Chamber--and we appreciate having him over here--to his credit, introduced the EXPLORE Act last year, which includes nearly every provision of my bill and Senator Barrasso's bill, along with some additional House priorities. My and Senator Barrasso's staff immediately got to work with the House to iron out the differences between the two bills, and we have had bipartisan, bicameral agreement on the negotiated text for more than 6 months. We have tried for months to get that passed, but it has been blocked along the way. This late in December, we are simply out of runway. Time is running out on us. I am willing to pass the House version without those negotiated changes so it can be sent straight to the President's desk because we are accepting what has already been passed in the House, with the agreement with the House that every one of those changes will be done-- every one of them. It is the only path we have available to us. This is our last shot to get this important legislation. So, Mr. President, notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 6492, which was received from the House and is at the desk; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. Thereupon, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill (H.R. 6492) to improve [[Page S7206]] recreation opportunities on, and facilitate greater access to, Federal public land, and for other purposes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection? Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas. Mr. CRUZ. Reserving the right to object, Mr. President, I want to thank my friend from West Virginia for his hard work on this very important matter. I support the objective of this legislation. I also appreciate the commitment that the Senator from West Virginia has made and also that Congressman Westerman has made to--if this bill were to pass today-- incorporate the changes that have been negotiated to improve it in the next Congress. In particular, these are changes dealing with the deployment of resources for broadband. Those negotiated changes would significantly improve and ensure that it operates the way it is intended to operate. I appreciate that commitment. As the Senator from West Virginia knows, I am pressing very hard right now to pass legislation that is very important to me and very important to Texans. It is legislation called the TAKE IT DOWN Act. The TAKE IT DOWN Act is bipartisan legislation that I authored, along with Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, to protect women and to protect teenage girls and young girls from a growing epidemic of nonconsensual intimate images online, both actual photographs and also a dramatically escalating problem of deepfake AI images that target real people. We are seeing every day more and more women and more and more teenage girls targeted with false deepfakes made using AI that appear to be explicit photographs, explicit videos. They are victimized. The TAKE IT DOWN Act makes the publication of those nonconsensual, intimate images a crime, a Federal felony. Critically, it puts a Federal obligation on the tech platform to remove those images, remove those videos when notified by the victim. You have a right to protect your privacy and not to be victimized. The women have a right. That legislation, the TAKE IT DOWN Act, passed the U.S. Senate unanimously 100 to nothing. Every Senator, Republican and Democrat, agreed with the bill. That legislation is now at the House, and House leadership placed the TAKE IT DOWN Act in the continuing resolution that was introduced earlier this week. It is in the bill. I am grateful for that. As the Presiding Officer knows, as the Senator from West Virginia knows, the path to passing the continuing resolution has proven to be challenging, and House leadership right now is actively negotiating and trying to find a path forward. I very much want the TAKE IT DOWN Act passed by whatever vehicle gets it to the President's desk because we have an obligation to protect women and to protect teenage girls. I have asked the House, as an alternative, to take up the TAKE IT DOWN Act on the suspension calendar. If it gets a vote on the floor of the House, it will pass. All it needs is a vote. So from my perspective, I am fine with it passing as part of the CR--if a CR passes with anything on it--or I believe it should pass on the suspension calendar and go to the President's desk. The Senator from West Virginia and Congressman Westerman have both committed to me to use their full force and persuasion and leverage to ensure that, one way or another, the TAKE IT DOWN Act will pass out of the House and get to the President's desk, because all of us want to protect our constituents. We have an obligation to do so. Because the gentlemen in question are my friends and I trust their good-faith representations and because we are about to lose the good graces of the Senator from West Virginia, who has decided to ride off into the sunset and leave us to the nonsense of the swamp--both Senator Manchin and Congressman Westerman have asked for a personal favor, that I not object, and therefore I do not object. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator from Texas object to the request? Mr. CRUZ. I do not. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection--Merry Christmas--it is so ordered. The bill (H.R. 6492) was ordered to a third reading, was read the third time, and passed. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia. Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, these are the relationships that we all should have. This is the good will, knowing that we want the TAKE IT DOWN Act. We have Senator Barrasso here, who has worked so hard on this--his staff, my staff, your staff. I can assure you, we are behind you a thousand percent. We going to get that done. I just pray to God that the House will accommodate what you are asking for because that bill is so important, the TAKE IT DOWN Act. You and I cosponsored a bill yesterday that is very important and are working on that. But your graciousness on this, knowing how important it is--you have your vendors in your State--this allows us to finally get into our parks and maintain them, maintain our outdoor activity. It gives the vendors the ability now to get things permitted so they can offer the services people have been clamoring for, and we saw the demand that was coming during the pandemic. This is really, really good news for our country. I just want to thank you, my dear friend Senator Cruz from Texas. God bless. Merry Christmas to all. The PRESIDING OFFICER. And good night. The Senator from Wyoming. Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, first, I want to express my gratitude to Senator Cruz for his very gr

Referenced legislation: S3593, S3593, HR6492

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EXPANDING PUBLIC LANDS OUTDOOR RECREATION EXPERIENCES ACT Congressional Record, Volume 170 Issue 189 (Thursday, December 19, 2024) [Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 189 (Thursday, December 19, 2024)] [Senate] [Pages S7205-S7214] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] EXPANDING PUBLIC LANDS OUTDOOR RECREATION EXPERIENCES ACT Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, in a moment, I am going to be asking for unanimous consent to pass the EXPLORE Act, a package of outdoor recreation legislation. Let me just say this to you. This is something that we all agree on, both sides of this wonderful institution of Congress, because the House and the Senate are in agreement, there were changes that need to be made. We all agreed to get that done, but the bill we have before us is the House's version without--without--the changes that we have agreed to. And the reason for that, the House has already passed theirs. And I understand my dear friend is going to be speaking on this, too, in the objection part of it. But I just would like for everyone to understand we have a chance, truly a chance. And I have, as chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee--we have made a focus of supporting our public lands and the outdoor recreation economy, which is the fastest growing element of our economy in every State. We all have beautiful venues in our States. We have all been able to take advantage of that, starting with the John Dingell Act and working all the way up to the Outdoor Recreation Act, and now the EXPLORE Act. It gives a chance for the vendors in those parks to be able to offer a true experience, and that is really what it is all about. I have no objections around all 50 States. One of the first things we did was pass, as I said, the Dingell Act. We did the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Just a year later, we passed the Great American Outdoors Act, which permanently funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund and provided nearly $2 billion per year for 5 years to address the deferred maintenance backlog on our Federal recreational lands--most of our parks, our wonderful, beautiful parks. The same year we passed the Great American Outdoors Act, Senator Capito and I passed legislation designating New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in our home State, which, on the east coast, is now one of the most visited parks that we have. It is close to most of the population in the country. Since the designation 4 years ago, visitation has jumped more than 40 percent. People want to get out and enjoy this beautiful country that we all own. A year later, in 2021, Senator Barrasso and I introduced the America's Outdoor Recreation Act, which is the basis of the EXPLORE Act. It basically gives you the ability now to really do it. We reported that bill out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a bipartisan basis. We tried very hard to pass that bill by the end of 2022, but ultimately we had some disagreements with the House. However, Senator Barrasso and I were not ready to give up. We reintroduced the bill and were again able to report it out with a bipartisan voice vote. Congressman Westerman, who is with us today in the Chamber--and we appreciate having him over here--to his credit, introduced the EXPLORE Act last year, which includes nearly every provision of my bill and Senator Barrasso's bill, along with some additional House priorities. My and Senator Barrasso's staff immediately got to work with the House to iron out the differences between the two bills, and we have had bipartisan, bicameral agreement on the negotiated text for more than 6 months. We have tried for months to get that passed, but it has been blocked along the way. This late in December, we are simply out of runway. Time is running out on us. I am willing to pass the House version without those negotiated changes so it can be sent straight to the President's desk because we are accepting what has already been passed in the House, with the agreement with the House that every one of those changes will be done-- every one of them. It is the only path we have available to us. This is our last shot to get this important legislation. So, Mr. President, notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 6492, which was received from the House and is at the desk; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. Thereupon, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill (H.R. 6492) to improve [[Page S7206]] recreation opportunities on, and facilitate greater access to, Federal public land, and for other purposes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection? Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas. Mr. CRUZ. Reserving the right to object, Mr. President, I want to thank my friend from West Virginia for his hard work on this very important matter. I support the objective of this legislation. I also appreciate the commitment that the Senator from West Virginia has made and also that Congressman Westerman has made to--if this bill were to pass today-- incorporate the changes that have been negotiated to improve it in the next Congress. In particular, these are changes dealing with the deployment of resources for broadband. Those negotiated changes would significantly improve and ensure that it operates the way it is intended to operate. I appreciate that commitment. As the Senator from West Virginia knows, I am pressing very hard right now to pass legislation that is very important to me and very important to Texans. It is legislation called the TAKE IT DOWN Act. The TAKE IT DOWN Act is bipartisan legislation that I authored, along with Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, to protect women and to protect teenage girls and young girls from a growing epidemic of nonconsensual intimate images online, both actual photographs and also a dramatically escalating problem of deepfake AI images that target real people. We are seeing every day more and more women and more and more teenage girls targeted with false deepfakes made using AI that appear to be explicit photographs, explicit videos. They are victimized. The TAKE IT DOWN Act makes the publication of those nonconsensual, intimate images a crime, a Federal felony. Critically, it puts a Federal obligation on the tech platform to remove those images, remove those videos when notified by the victim. You have a right to protect your privacy and not to be victimized. The women have a right. That legislation, the TAKE IT DOWN Act, passed the U.S. Senate unanimously 100 to nothing. Every Senator, Republican and Democrat, agreed with the bill. That legislation is now at the House, and House leadership placed the TAKE IT DOWN Act in the continuing resolution that was introduced earlier this week. It is in the bill. I am grateful for that. As the Presiding Officer knows, as the Senator from West Virginia knows, the path to passing the continuing resolution has proven to be challenging, and House leadership right now is actively negotiating and trying to find a path forward. I very much want the TAKE IT DOWN Act passed by whatever vehicle gets it to the President's desk because we have an obligation to protect women and to protect teenage girls. I have asked the House, as an alternative, to take up the TAKE IT DOWN Act on the suspension calendar. If it gets a vote on the floor of the House, it will pass. All it needs is a vote. So from my perspective, I am fine with it passing as part of the CR--if a CR passes with anything on it--or I believe it should pass on the suspension calendar and go to the President's desk. The Senator from West Virginia and Congressman Westerman have both committed to me to use their full force and persuasion and leverage to ensure that, one way or another, the TAKE IT DOWN Act will pass out of the House and get to the President's desk, because all of us want to protect our constituents. We have an obligation to do so. Because the gentlemen in question are my friends and I trust their good-faith representations and because we are about to lose the good graces of the Senator from West Virginia, who has decided to ride off into the sunset and leave us to the nonsense of the swamp--both Senator Manchin and Congressman Westerman have asked for a personal favor, that I not object, and therefore I do not object. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator from Texas object to the request? Mr. CRUZ. I do not. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection--Merry Christmas--it is so ordered. The bill (H.R. 6492) was ordered to a third reading, was read the third time, and passed. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia. Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, these are the relationships that we all should have. This is the good will, knowing that we want the TAKE IT DOWN Act. We have Senator Barrasso here, who has worked so hard on this--his staff, my staff, your staff. I can assure you, we are behind you a thousand percent. We going to get that done. I just pray to God that the House will accommodate what you are asking for because that bill is so important, the TAKE IT DOWN Act. You and I cosponsored a bill yesterday that is very important and are working on that. But your graciousness on this, knowing how important it is--you have your vendors in your State--this allows us to finally get into our parks and maintain them, maintain our outdoor activity. It gives the vendors the ability now to get things permitted so they can offer the services people have been clamoring for, and we saw the demand that was coming during the pandemic. This is really, really good news for our country. I just want to thank you, my dear friend Senator Cruz from Texas. God bless. Merry Christmas to all. The PRESIDING OFFICER. And good night. The Senator from Wyoming. Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, first, I want to express my gratitude to Senator Cruz for his very gr Referenced legislation: S3593, S3593, HR6492